~maiden~

[Xige]

Ei guys,

Had first maiden hover of the trex. Finally got it airborne.

Must say that the power of these is immense! And loud!

My goodness i had to allow myself to get used to the power of it first before lifting off.

Anyway im glad I managed to hover it quite a bit.

It is pretty solid at mid stick, the cyclics work well and do the job.

However one problem is that going from mid stick down to 0 pitch is a bit sudden. So i was careful on the landings.

Question: How can i make that less sudden and just a gradual smooth descent?

[Aidi]

Congrats on the maiden flight... They are always a bit of a nervous experience... Glad it all went well

Mid stick to 0 pitch... Mid stick should ideally be 0 pitch.

What is your pitch curve set at?

Rgds
Aidi

[Mart61]

Congrats on your maiden. Hope mine's as successful...

[Xige]

Thanks Aidi,

Oh right, I'll double check the pitch settings for each of the 5 stick positions.

At the moment the pitch curve settings are:

1: 53%
2: 56%
3: 58%
4: 75%
5: 98%

I'm still a quite a beginner though pretty gud with normal hovering now. Any advice to just have this setup for docile smooth hovering would be much appreciated =)....

[Xige]

Thanks Mart =)

My advice for your build is to take things slow and sure at your own pace. read articles and watch as much videos as you can to get the setup right, or for watever flight style you want.

TEST your heli on a lazy susan to check the tail, check your PITCH & THROTTLE settings, check that all the nuts and bolts are firmly in place. Check your blades are balanced. Check your battery is ok etc... Doing all of that is worth it! =)

Good luck with your build and stay safe mate....

[machasm]

Thanks Aidi,

At the moment the pitch curve settings are:

1: 53%
2: 56%
3: 58%
4: 75%
5: 98%

Congrats on the maiden.
With that pitch curve I am surprised if you can get the heli back down!
That is a very gentle curve with positive pitch at position 1.

What pitch do you have on the blades when in position 1?

[machasm]

I have my suspicions that the swash is not setup right.
Post your pitch values by using a pitch gauge at each of those positions.

[Xige]

Adrian just got the pitch readings as you requested:

1: -5
2: -3
3: -2 1/2
4: +4
5: +8 1/2

I think it's a little off lol...uhm can you help to make it smoother pls?...

[machasm]

Adrian just got the pitch readings as you requested:

1: -5
2: -3
3: -2 1/2
4: +4
5: +8 1/2

I think it's a little off lol...uhm can you help to make it smoother pls?...

Sure bud.

Firstly you need to set the swash using a straight line pitch curve.
So set your TX to
Pos1 0
pos2 25
pos3 50
pos4 75
pos5 100.
Also check swash mix pitch setting is around 60%

After that switch the heli on and ensure you have throttle hold on.
Move the throttle stick so that it is at midstick (pos3).
Ensure your swash servos are at 90 degrees to the servos.
If not move the horns around until they are.
Then check that the swash is somewhere in the middle of its travel on the main shaft.
Adjust the links from the servo horns to swash until it is and also level.
Next work your way up the head adjusting links so that the washout arms are square.
Moving up adjust the links to the blade grips until you have zero pitch.
The mechanical should be right now.
You can then go back into your tx and adjust your pitch curve to your tastes.
Finless bob has videos of this setup on HF here

[Xige]

Thanks Adrian, I'll try that out.

Cheers =)

Uhm what about expo& EPA settings?

Correct me if im wrong, should i have the EPA's at 100% for maximum servo movement?

[machasm]

Leave the EPAs at 100% for now.
Don't use expo just yet.
Once setup then dial some in although it wont affect the setup if you have some dialled in already.

[brin]

well done xige and when you have it setup better it will be easier after that its down to thumb time .we had crap weather in london all day so you must have a big brolly or were you indoors

[Xige]

Thanks brin, yea the weather is still so very cold at the moment. I was test hovering the heli in the garden, then everytime it needed servicing/tweaking, I just came back indoors to warm up again.

[brin]

i remember trying to hover my 450 for the first time in my mates garden about 30ft round with shrubs all around it made my heli look big after a few tentative hovers wandering closer and closer to the shrubs my nerves give up ,went to the flying field after that.

[Xige]

Yea my garden is around the same width, not big..and makes the rex look big..one day i will venture out to the greater outdoors or even a club. Dunno yet lol
For now, for practive the garden will suffice. Cos my nerves are still jagedy.